


Panic In The Hallway

by PurpleSpaceCat



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Anxiety, Anxiety Attacks, Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-25
Updated: 2018-07-25
Packaged: 2019-06-16 08:11:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15432726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PurpleSpaceCat/pseuds/PurpleSpaceCat
Summary: It had come as a shock. From nowhere. One moment they are arguing and Keith is the same infuriating guy he’s been since Lance first saw him, and the next Keith is on the ground, shaking and clutching his ears.





	Panic In The Hallway

It had come as a shock. From nowhere. One moment they are arguing and Keith is the same infuriating guy he’s been since Lance first saw him, and the next Keith is on the ground, shaking and clutching his ears. His laboring breathing fills the hallway and makes everyone paus to see what’s happening.

Lance doesn’t know what to do. How to help. He tries to reach out.

“Keith. Buddy-”

A stinging sensation fills his mind. Keith slapped his hand away and is now covering away in a corner, rocking back and forth and on the verge of hyperventilating. Murmuring from the other students reaches Lance’s ears and he can feel the eyes on them. He looks around and can see that some have pulled out their phones to record the situation. And it’s disgusting. If they have time for that, why not get someone to help? Why isn’t HE getting someone to help? What is he supposed to do? He looks at Hunk and begs his friend to come with answers, but when meeting his eyes Hunk seems just as lost and afraid as he feels.

Then, as if sent from the skies comes a shrieking voice through the crowd.

“Get away from him!”

And out of the sea of people comes Pidge, pushing and shoving everyone in her way. Her eyes looks fierce and she is using her elbows to get to her destination. When finally on the inside of the circle the students have created she lowers herself to the ground beside Keith.

“Keith. Shhh. It’s me. Just keep breating, okay?”

She places her hand on his shoulder, slowly and gently.

“There. Shhhh. Shhhhh.”

And Keith latches onto her. And he cries. Lance have never seen Keith cry before. It never crossed his mind that he was capable of it. Which seems really dumb now when he thinks about it. Of course Keith can cry, he is human. Still, never had Lance expected to see it.

By now, Keith’s breathing has turned more even and Pidge is gently pulling him up and steadying him against her. She glares at the crowd and if Lance didn’t know better he would say she looked ready to jump at them at any second now.

“What are you staring at?” She snarls as she makes her way to the exit, supporting Keith’s weight as he clutches her arm and avoids looking at anyone. And it’s odd, Lance thinks, seeing someone as big as Keith leaning on someone as small as Pidge. The whole scene would seem funny if not for the fact that it far from is. And Lance can’t help the sinking feeling from reaching his stomach.

He should have noticed something was off. He should have noticed Keith’s quick and short answers. He should have noticed how Keith started to walk faster while he followed. He should have realized Keith was panicking. He should have realized..

Keith had tried to get away from him.

It’s not unusual for the two of them to make small jabs at each other. They have ever since the start of the year. It’s what they do, since they’re rivals. Lance has always seen Keith as too much of a know-it-all and he wanted to take him down a notch. But this? He never wanted to see Keith like this. Never wanted to see him this vulnerable.

Lance never wanted to be the cause of such a thing as this.

Looking at the retreating form of his rival and classmate, Lance realized he didn’t know Keith as much as he thought he did.

 

***

 

It had come as a shock. The ringing in his ears and the feeling of his fingers locking in place. He had known imidiately that he needed to get out.

He can still hear Lance behind him as he heads for the door, trying to coax him into an argument, but he can’t turn around to say anything. He needs out, he needs air. Everything is too stuffy, too hot, too suffocating- he can’t breathe.

Trying to locate the exit he speeds up. As long as he doesn’t run no one will take notice.   
[It’s fine, just keep walking, you will be outside soon.]   
He keeps repeating this to himself as he tries to calm his breating.

It’s okay, he’s okay, he will get air soon, he will get space soon-

And he bumps into someone. He holds his breath and keeps moving forward.  
It’s okay, he will be out soon.  
Is Lance still behind him? Is he talking to him? Keith doesn’t know. He can only hear the ringing and his own heart beating faster and faster.

Where is the exit?  
It’s too hot, he’s gonna melt in his own clothes.  
It’s so hot, he can’t even breath anymore.

Where is the exit?  
The halls are too loud and it gives him a headache.  
He needs to get out.

Where is the fucking exit?!  
He can’t breathe. He can’t breatheHecan'tbreatheHecan'tbreathe-

He hears a voice and suddenly he’s on the ground, gasping for air and in desperate need for silence.  
The ringing is too loud, the air is too hot, he needs to get out, he is suffocating and he needs to get out of here.

He feels something on his arm and he slaps it away.  
No!  
He don’t want the touch. He don’t want anyone to touch him.  
Where is he? Where is the exit? Why can’t he breathe? He needs to breathe. He wants to breathe!  
He wants to breathe!

“Keith. Shhhh. It’s me. Just keep breathing, okay?”  
He knows that voice.  
There’s a hand on his shoulder.  
He knows that hand. No one else has such a small hand.

Beyond the tears making his sight blurry there is a face he knows. It’s a gentle face and he knows it.  
The next second he clutches the girl in front of him.

He knows her. She is safe. He knows her. She is here. She is soft and she fits in his embrace and she is a safety.

And he can finally breathe again.

 

He doesn’t know how long they sit there, but eventually Pidge pulls him to his feet and he can’t help but to lean on her. He must be heavy, he knows, but he just can’t make himself walk by himself. A fact he will be ashamed of later, but right now he can’t make himself care. He just wants to get out.

He keeps his eyes focused on the floor as they make their way through the crowd, Pidge glaring and baring her teeth at anyone who dares to look at them too long.

He can feel the eyes on him and he knows that a pair of ocean blue ones are watching him closely until he’s outside the schoolbuilding.  
Later, he will care, he knows.  
But right now, he’s just tired.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it :)
> 
> Feedback is greatly appreciated (let me know in the comments below)


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